It's Here!

My copy of "Narrow Gauge in the Sherman's Valley" has arrived.

It is indeed a history of the Perry County railroads, which includes the Newport and Sherman's Valley Railroad and the Perry County Railroad with a brief line or two on the Perry County Lumber Company thrown in for good measure.

It is also indeed a reprint of the earlier "Bells and Whistles in Old Perry" with new photos and added information. Since I have never read "Bells and Whistles" I don't know what photos or information has been added.

There are 106 pages in all, a good number of photos, and a basic outline of the railroad's history. There isn't as much information as I would have liked, but at least the story is there.

I haven't yet decided on a timeline, but it will be sometime after the Perry County Railroad was sold to David Gring, representing the Susquehanna River and Western. The purchase was made on September 14, 1903.

The Newport and Sherman's Valley had two Moguls, one American and a small switcher. The 2-6-0 mechanism I have will work well for either Mogul, but the narrowed Bachmann isn't a very good stand-in mostly due to driver size. The Susquehanna River and Western had an ex-PRR Consolidation. I don't think any of these locomotives, with the possible exception of the narrow gauge American, will be difficult to reproduce.

My plans are to have some sort of refining plant at New Bloomfield or New Bloomfield Junction; coal will come in from the East Broad Top and raw ore from the mines on or near the Conococheague Mountain in narrow gauge cars via the N&SV. After refining, the processed ore will be shipped out in standard gauge cars via the SR&W to the PRR interchange at Duncannon.

What the raw ore may be is still under consideration. Coal may be an option, but if so there would not have been a reason to interconnect with the EBT so I'm not leaning in that direction. Iron may be another option, but iron mining had pretty much ceased in the area by the early 1900's due to the superior quality of the Minnesota iron ore that was being brought in by lake steamer and the PRR. The area abounds in minerals, so I'll just have to come up with one, along with a reasonable excuse to exploit it.

I'm still working on a basic history and timeline, and this is actually quite a bit of fun in itself. The first thing that has to happen is a new source of revenue for the railroad that would justify it's expansion. They will be published when they are completed.